You know what's really awesome? FORENSICS. Like, whoa. I mean, how is it real? How do you even go about inventing some of those machines? Who thought of that? Where? What? Why? I'm at a loss for words.
I've always found forensics really super cool; how you can identify someone just by a piece of hair or some skin or a tooth. Something that you don't think could possibly give any information on who you are actually holds everything. It's mind blowing.
But I'm not only interested in the "crime scene" side of it. I like to look at forensics with the scope of the work they do in the historical and anthropological fields. Excavators dig somebody up, they say "who is this?" and the forensic scientists swoop in and pull out their little brushes and say "LEAVE IT TO ME" and it turns out to be some magical Egyptian King with 12 wives and a bunch of cats.
My interest in forensics surfaced again in the last few weeks because of the breaking news on the BBC that the body of Richard III may have been discovered.
WHAT!
WHAT!
That is just so incredibly amazing, the dude died in the 1400's! But they found a skeleton that had abnormalities in the spine (the Shakespeare fanatic in me is freaking out at this point) and obvious blunt trauma to the head. In case you didn't know, Richard III died in the battle of Bosworth from A BLOW TO THE HEAD.
BUT. They can't know for sure just by looking.
So, of course, the anthropologists are all sad UNTIL the forensics guy appears and says "No worries. We'll just take a piece of bone fragment and cross match the DNA with descendants of Richard III. No biggie."
The results take 12 weeks. And I'm counting down the days.
I mean, how incredibly awesome is all of this? We talk so much about how technology is invasive and all consuming and is beginning to overwhelm society, but then I see things like this and I am so thankful to be living in today's world. This is a branch of technology that can only grow and prosper. And I feel so lucky to be able to watch it happen.
They are literally making history here. With technology.
I MEAN, IT'S RICHARD III, PEOPLE.
A HORSE A HORSE MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE!
This is so much better than an iPhone.
"Richard III Dig: 'Strong Evidence' Bones Are Lost King." BBC News. BBC, 09 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19561018>
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